Offie recovers from side strain; Harmeet may sit out vs Hyderabad.
The venue for Mumbai’s next Ranji Trophy fixture is the one that witnessed an imperious 175 by Sachin Tendulkar recently.
Skipper Wasim Jaffer hinted first up that the wicket at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Uppal, near Hyderabad, won’t encourage bowlers much.
So, the rules are simple: Win the toss, bat first and for as long as you can. However, Jaffer hasn’t been lucky with the toss even once this season. “I hope luck favours us this time,” coach Pravin Amre said.
As the defending champions take on Hyderabad in a four-day Super League Group A encounter starting Tuesday, all eyes are on comeback man Ramesh Powar. The off-spinner missed three consecutive games due to a side strain and his return will do Mumbai a world of good.
Jaffer, though, has a problem. Left-arm spin twins Iqbal Abdulla and Harmeet Singh have shared 26 wickets in just two games — 14 of them in Mumbai’s only outright victory of the season against Himachal Pradesh.
Mumbai, with 12 points from four games, go into the game as favourites while Hyderabad, with just four from as many games, are at the bottom of the table.
“We are looking to win all our remaining games. We are not taking Hyderabad lightly and we know they will come hard at us,” Jaffer said.
When asked if he would field three spinners along with pacers Ajit Agarkar and Dhawal Kulkarni, Jaffer said, “I don’t think spinners can make much of an impact on this wicket. It looks like a batting beauty and playing an extra batsman would make more sense.”
Powar’s return can only be at the cost of young Harmeet who has had a great start to his first class career. Mumbai though need Agarkar and Dhawal to fire with the new ball.
Hyderabad, on the other hand, have tasted success in the pace department. Pacers Alfred Absolem and MP Arjun have been their top performers.
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